[ESPN.com] NEW ORLEANS — Ray Lewis said Wednesday he was “agitated” due to the controversy over the magazine report linking him to a company that makes deer-antler spray containing a banned performance enhancer (IGF-1) and strongly denied using the product. “I’m never angry. I’m too Read More

[11Alive.com] ATLANTA — Atlanta Police said a 14-year-old student was shot at Price Middle School, near the Lakewood Heights neighborhood south of downtown Atlanta on Thursday afternoon. According to Atlanta Fire Department Capt. Marian McDaniel, there was a 14-year-old student who had been shot in Read More

by Kyle S. Yeldell NNPA Correspondent Baylor center Brittney Griner broke the all-time Big 12 career scoring record Wednesday night, leading the top-ranked Lady Bears to a 90-60 victory over Texas Tech. It was Griner’s fourth career 40-point performance. She also grabbed 15 rebounds for Read More

by Kyle S. Yeldell NNPA Correspondent New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony set a new franchise record as he led the New York Knicks in a 113-97 win against the Orlando Magic. Anthony scored 20 points to set a team-record with his 30th straight 20-point Read More

[BBC] Ditching meat and fish in favour of a vegetarian diet can have a dramatic effect on the health of your heart, research suggests. A study of 44,500 people in England and Scotland showed vegetarians were 32% less likely to die or need hospital treatment Read More

[San Francisco Gate] Leor Weinberger calls it hijacking the hijacker. In his lab at the Gladstone Institutes, he’s developed a technique for harnessing stray bits of HIV – a virus that infects and ultimately kills immune cells – and using them to attack the virus itself. His work, still preliminary Read More

[Los Angeles Times] Students borrowing money for college today are much likelier to default than people who took out loans just a few years ago, according to a new report. The student-loan delinquency rate in the last three years has risen to 15.1%, up from Read More

[Christian Science Monitor] As a bipartisan group of US senators and President Obama lead a push to enact sweeping immigration reform this year, they are boosting the idea with a rationale that is economic as well as social. Reform isn’t just about reuniting families, better securing the border, or Read More

[Sporting News] NEW ORLEANS — Ray Lewis continued to deny the validity of a Sports Illustrated story accusing him of attempting to purchase a banned substance. At his Super Bowl XLVII news conference Wednesday, Lewis’ denial was even more forceful than it had been on Tuesday. The Read More

[Yahoo! Sports] Busbee: TIGER’S BACK TIGER’S BACK OH THANK YOU HEAVEN TIGER’S BA- all right, enough. Woods played exceptionally well in notching his 75th career Tour victory on Sunday. The easy storyline is that he’s “back,” but let’s dig a little deeper than that, shall Read More

[New York Times] NEW ORLEANS — The subject that always follows Michael Oher followed him to media day at the Super Bowl on Tuesday. Oher would prefer to concentrate on football, on his job as offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. Instead, he answered another Read More

[Star Tribune] NEW ORLEANS — Is Randy Moss the greatest receiver in NFL history? Probably not, but he’s close. And he’s definitely the only one brave enough to sit in a 49ers jersey at Super Bowl media day and proclaim that he is. “I really do think I’m Read More

[E! News] Though there’s been much ado about which songs Beyoncé—and possibly Destiny’s Child, assuming Michelle Williams isn’t too busy—will sing when she performs this Sunday during the Super Bowl halftime show. But there’s one thing we’re positive of: Queen B has enough hits to guarantee a flaw-free Read More

[Rolling Stone] Rihanna has opened up like never before about getting back together with her ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown, and what it means for her public image. “I decided it was more important for me to be happy,” she tells contributing editor Josh Eells in the new issue Read More

[Forbes] On Friday, Kevin Spacey fans will have the chance to watch all 13 episodes of the actor’s new TV show, House Of Cards, as long as they subscribe to Netflix. The show premieres on Netflix and instead of doling out the episodes once per week, the streaming Read More

[Los Angeles Times] WASHINGTON — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has named his former chief of staff to temporarily fill the Senate seat being vacated by John Kerry, and called a special election for June 25 for voters to choose a permanent replacement for the incoming secretary of State. Read More

[Washington Post] President Obama is riding a wave of personal popularity into his second term, with his highest favorability ratings since his first year in office, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Fully 60 percent of Americans have a favorable impression of Obama in Read More

[New Yorker] There is a growing sense that comprehensive immigration reform is now close to inevitable, that it won’t just die in Congress this time around. But on Tuesday, not more than three hours before President Obama gave a major speech in which he laid Read More

[Chicago Tribune] Ten-year-old Nathaniel Pendleton Jr. recalled the way his big sister Hadiya would often greet him with a few gentle slaps on his cheeks whenever she came home from school. “She said it was with love,” he said. Nathaniel etched “I miss you” and Read More

[Politico] The results are in and the 2012 Democratic National Convention was the largest event in Charlotte, N.C.’s history. The September event — at which, President Barack Obama officially accepted his party’s nomination for reelection — had an economic impact of $163.6 million for the Read More

[MarketWatch] On Wednesday, both Apple AAPL +0.14% and NetflixNFLX -0.55% reported earnings after the close. Apple earned $13.81 per share for the quarter; Netflix earned $0.13 for the quarter. Apple stock promptly fell over $50; Netflix stock went up about $40. The differential between the performance of two stocks after Read More

[Los Angeles Times] California’s foreclosure crisis eased considerably during the final quarter of last year, with the number of homes entering foreclosure dropping to a six-year low. The steep decline, accompanied by a similar drop in home repossessions, clears the path for a quickened pace Read More

[Fox Business] In an age of online banking and smartphone apps, many consumers no longer bother to balance or reconcile their checking accounts. But there are still some good reasons to go through these seemingly outmoded exercises. To understand why that’s the case, it’s helpful Read More

[CNN] Atlanta (CNN) – In all the 45 years of a commemorative service on the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., there had never been a Latino delivering the keynote address. That changed Monday as the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez took the podium and belted out Read More

(RNS) When President Obama rests his hand on two historic Bibles to take his second-term oath of office Monday (Jan. 21), he’ll add a phrase not mentioned in the Constitution: “So help me God.” But the Almighty’s role on the Capitol steps is a controversial one. First, Read More

(RNS) Four decades after Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion, many opponents of the decision are in a celebratory mood while those backing abortion rights are glum, feeling that momentum is turning decisively against them. Tens of thousands of anti-abortion protesters Read More

[Religion News] WASHINGTON (RNS) Half of Americans worry that religious freedom in the U.S. is at risk, and many say activist groups — particularly gays and lesbians — are trying to remove “traditional Christian values” from the public square. The findings of a poll published Wednesday (Jan. Read More

[KPHO.com] SAGINAW COUNTY, MI (WNEM) – The flu has been spreading fast across the country this year, with more than half of states reporting widespread activity. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said that in fact, this year’s flu outbreak is one of the worst in Read More

[Huffington Post] Newly unwrapped research suggests that sex with condoms is just as earth-shaking as sex au naturel, HealthDay News reports. A cross-section of nearly 6,000 18- to 59-year-old Americans — women, men, gay and straight — revealed as much in data analyzed by the Center for Read More

[Washington Post] Their dad is tired of talking about them. The brothers are so tired of the topic they have decided to hold a joint news conference in New Orleans this week, after which they hope everyone will shut up about it. Everyone, save a Read More

[MTV News] Will they or won’t they? That’s the question on everyone’s minds about the rumored Destiny’s Child reunion at the Super Bowl this Sunday. Michelle Williams keeps saying that the trio isn’t going to take the stage during the halftime show in New Orleans on February 3, Read More

[MTV News] While some still question the validity of the Florida drive-by involving Rick Ross, Fort Lauderdale police released an official statement confirming that the Maybach Music head was in fact driving the targeted Rolls Royce early Monday (January 28) morning. The statement also reveals that Rozay’s 28-year old girlfriend, Read More

[New York Times] HARTFORD — Victims of gun violence, burly men clad in hunting jackets and National Rifle Association hats, mothers wearing stickers reading “We Demand Change Now.” “The sole purpose of those AR-15s or AK-47s is to put a lot of lead out on Read More

[Los Angeles Times] WASHINGTON — A concerted Republican effort to alter the balance of power in presidential elections by changing the rules for the electoral college is facing significant hurdles — including from some GOP officials in the affected states. All but two states currently award electoral Read More

Ryann Roberts sees value of Black History Month by Maya Rhodan NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Although born long after the 1963 March on Washington and passage of landmark legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of Read More

by Freddie Allen NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – The Great Recession has had its greatest impact on African Americans, who saw their net wealth decrease at a rate more than four times faster than Whites, according to a recent report by United for a Read More

by Maya Rhodan NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – In 2010, more than 3 million students received their high school diploma accounting for 78.2 percent of students who started secondary school four years prior, according to a new report by the National Center for Education Read More

Victories for Black Americans, and for all others who stand freedom, justice and equality, do not come easy and do not occur without a prolonged, sustained struggle or “movement of people” that creates a “moment in history.” On behalf of the four deceased members of the Wilmington Ten – William “Joe” Wright Jr, Jerry Jacobs, Ann Shepard, and Connie Tindall – and on behalf of six living members of the Wilmington Ten – Wayne Moore, Willie Earl Vereen, Reginald Epps, James McKoy, and Marvin Patrick – I express our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to all who helped to make this moment possible. Forty years is an awful long time for justice to be done, but we are thankful that this day has finally come. […read more]

By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist When Barack Obama accepted his party’s presidential nomination in Denver on August 28, 2008 – the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream Speech” – excitement filled Read More

By Lee A. Daniels NNPA Columnist What was it that made watching the ceremonies of President Obama’s second inauguration more satisfying than even the thrilling spectacle of four years ago? Certainly, part of it was its occurring the same day as the celebration of Read More

By Julianne Malveaux NNPA Columnist President Barack Obama has the opportunity, in this second term, to put his feet on history. He won an election that his opponent had essentially claimed, he has been firm about that which he would negotiate on, and he Read More

By Marian Wright Edelman NNPA Columnist On Saturday, January 26, I was part of the March on Washington for Gun Control. We called on members of Congress and state legislators to pass common sense gun safety laws to stop the epidemic of preventable child and adult gun Read More

By Marc H. Morial NNPA Columnist No one hunts with an assault rifle. No one needs 10 bullets to kill a deer and too many innocent people have died already. End the madness, now!” – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Last week, one month after Read More

By James Clingman NNPA Columnist Have you noticed the television commercials that offer loans of various kinds or another enticements such as auto leases and insurance policies for the elderly? These commercials are laden with information that appears on the screen for a few seconds Read More

By Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist Since the enactment of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009, consumers have benefited from more transparent pricing and improved ability to manage credit card debt. Although 68 percent of consumers had a credit card Read More

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. NNPA Columnist In response to a commentary I wrote, I received a note the other day from a reader. Among other things they were most concerned about what they believed to have been the dismissal of those who challenge the Read More

By Raynard Jackson NNPA Columnist All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. This statement is the best way to express my thoughts and feelings about what the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is constantly going through. Read More

By William Reed NNPA Columnist “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.” If eight years have passed and you are looking at the same skyline and infrastructure, surely it’s time you looked at the people you Read More

TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY PRESS RELEASE Contact: Teri Sumbry Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing 334-724-4552 334-339-1928 tsumbry@mytu.tuskegee.edu TUSKEGEE, Ala. (January 21, 2013) – College students from around the State of Alabama gathered at the Tuskegee University to offer their solutions to some of the area’s Read More

[Fox Business] Yesterday, Barack Obama took the oath of office to begin his second term. He faces a different environment than he did when he became President four years ago. At the time, the country was in the depths of the Great Recession. The stock market Read More

[NBC News] Jeff Schneider recently had his busiest November and December ever, as the tax preparer’s small business clients clamored for information about how the fiscal cliff negotiations could impact their taxes. “It was unbelievable,” said Schneider, who runs SFS Tax and Accounting in Port Read More

[Houston Business Journal] As I reported last week, a group of Muslim investors have filed to charter a new no-interest credit union based in Houston. Marketing to Shia Muslims in Houston, Dallas and Austin, the Jafari No-Interest Credit Union’s business model would rely on fees, rather Read More

by Brian Carter Special to the NNPA from the Los Angeles Sentinel (From Left to Right): Jacque Bee, co-executive director of Recycling Black Dollars and Dr. Jewel Diamond Taylor. (Photo by Brian W. Carter) Recycling Black Dollars forum kicks off the new year with Dr. Read More

[Gizmodo] Even though business cards seemed like they would be one of the first things to get killed by some fancy techwiznology, they’ve managed to survive even though the use of dead paper is dying. Everybody has business cards—even the super rich and super famous. Read More

[Fox Sports] ATLANTA – 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman looked somewhat bemused as he started to watch a GIF of his coach, Jim Harbaugh, reacting to a failed fourth-quarter challenge on a reporter’s phone. Until we reached the high point. Then Bowman got geeked up. It was a huge moment, Read More

[Sports Illustrated] It’s around this time every year that attentions naturally start to drift away from the slow development of the NBA season and toward more hypothetical matters. Some fiddle with the trade machine. Others have abstract arguments about this player or that, divorced from Read More

[Business Insider] Celebrities ranging from Joan Rivers to Donald Trump have already tweeted their reactions to Lance Armstrong’s doping confession to Oprah, but for the first time since the groundbreaking interview, Armstrong’s former fiancé Sheryl Crow has broken her silence. “I think that honesty is always the best bet Read More

[Washington Post] OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ray Lewis, for so long, has leaned on the emotional and spiritual elements of football, life and their intersection. Those are what have pushed him to this, the end of his 17th season, the end of his career. He has Read More

[Los Angeles Times] On Wednesday, ESPN NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy appeared on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, giving his take on Dwight Howard and the Lakers. The Lakers have lost three straight games, most recently in Chicago to the Bulls, 95-83. Howard expressed dissatisfaction after taking just five shot attempts. “When you lose games Read More

(Reuters) – The percentage of workers belonging to unions tumbled to 11.3 percent in 2012, the lowest percentage in 76 years, led by dramatic declines in states where lawmakers have put organized labor in the political crosshairs, government figures showed on Wednesday. The total number Read More

[MTV News] A day after her show-stopping national anthem performance at President Obama’s second inauguration, the debate rages on over whether Beyoncé lip-synched the whole thing. But, given just how pervasive lip-synching is in the world of pop music, and how big of a scale the inauguration is, it wouldn’t Read More

By George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief WASHINGTON (NNPA) — Rejecting calls for him to move closer toward his Republican critics, a confident President Barack H. Obama kicked off his second term on Monday by making an impassioned plea for a more inclusive America. “It is Read More

By Robin Givhan Washington Post Published: January 21 First lady Michelle Obama stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol during President Obama’s second-term swearing-in, holding the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s black leather Bible in her magenta-gloved hands. The smaller Lincoln Bible rested atop Read More

By Maya Rhodan NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHIGTON (NNPA) – CNN has covered it. ABC News’ Nightline has done a feature on it. It has appeared in the pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post. It has been discussed on NPR. Oprah, in Read More

According to the New York Times, Beyonce’ was lip synching during her Inauguration rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner”. Beyoncé’s performance of the national anthem at President Obama’s second inauguration on Monday was everything it should be: soaring, moving, symbolic and musically superlative. It also wasn’t live. Read More

Special to the NNPA from the Tri-State Defender DICK GREGORY (LEFT) AND SPIKE LEE Legendary social activist, comedian and author, Dick Gregory, has weighed in on the controversial Quentin Tarantino film, “Django Unchained,” and he did so in explosive fashion. In an interview posted to Read More

[MTV] Looks like Chris Brown is the latest victim of the new “swatting” craze that’s taking over Hollywood. “Swatting” is a new prank which entails reporting a fake crime or emergency at someone’s home, resulting in the SWAT team showing up. Not actually that funny. According to reports, authorities Read More

Kim Kardashian stopped taking birth control due to fertility issues, according to EntertainmentWise.com. During a recent episode of Kourtney and Kim Take On Miami, Kim revealed that her fear of infertility after a visit to her doctor. “When I went to the doctor a couple months ago, Read More

New Kids On The Block, Boyz II Men and 98 Degrees, three of the biggest male R&B groups of the late 1980s and 1990s, will go on tour together in 2013, according to EntertainmentWise.com. It was revealed today on The View that 98 Degrees and Read More

by Freddie Allen NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – As conservative southern Democrats – once known as Dixiecrats – switched to Republicans, Black state lawmakers have seen their power evaporate in the South. “Virtually all Black elected officials in the region are outsiders looking in,” Read More

Republicans Respond with Apoplectic Rage by Zenitha Prince Special to the NNPA from the Afro-American Newspaper The White House’s proposal to curb violent gun-related crime has provoked conservatives into a state of near-apoplexy, with at least one Republican House member suggesting he would bring impeachment Read More

by Tony Best Special to the NNPA from The Carib News There is a gathering force propelling the movement towards comprehensive federal immigration reform in Washington. It’s a drive that if successful can help at least 500,000 people from the English, Spanish, French and Dutch-speaking Read More

[Politico] U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk will leave the Obama administration at the end of February, he announced Tuesday. Kirk had indicated late last year that he planned to return home to Texas, but he confirmed his plans with a statement Tuesday. The United States, Read More

[Politico] The National Rifle Association spent $2.5 million lobbying the federal government in 2012, on par with its activity in 2011 new lobbying reports show. The powerful gun rights group spent $655,000 lobbying in the last three months of 2012, slightly down from the fourth quarter of Read More

by Cash Michaels Special to the NNPA from the Wilmington Journal WILMINGTON, N.C. – Now that the Wilmington Ten, after more than 40 years, have been legally granted pardons of actual innocence from the state of North Carolina, their attorneys are now hard at work Read More

by Cassiette West-Williams NNPA Special Contributor (Editor’s Note: Earlier this month, the New York Times ran a front-page story on homicides in Chicago, a story that began by recounting the day Sherman Miller, 21, was shot to death on the steps of St. Columbanus Catholic Church while Read More

[Mashable] The new Myspace is now open to all, shifting the aging social network’s focus toward building connections between musicians and fans. With an updated design and the star power of Justin Timberlake (one of the company’s backers), the site has garnered a lot of attention. Now it has Read More

The Maloof family, the owners of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, has reached an agreement to sell the controlling interest in the franchise to a Seattle group, according to Marc Stein of ESPN. The prospective ownership group is looking to move the team immediately to Seattle. Read More

[Black Enterprise] Hampton University graduate Jacqui Carpenter was recently named the new commissioner of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the largest athletic conference for African-Americans. The HU alum is the first woman to be named commissioner in the CIAA since its inception. Thrilled to be Read More

Black viewers have caused a spike in viewership for Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network, according to Black America Web. As a result of programs like “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” (734,000 viewers) “Iyanla: Fix My Life” (742,000 viewers) and high-profile guests including Whitney Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina (3.5 million Read More

[Huffington Post] President Obama’s second welcome into office will be brought to you by Bank Of America, Coca-Cola and Microsoft. Those three companies are among the many backers of Obama’s inaugural festivities, according to a list posted by the Presidential Inaugural Committee. Other corporations donating to fund the Read More

[Mashable] Startups in the U.S. had a tougher time getting funding in 2012 than the year before, a new report suggests. VCs invested $26.5 billion in just under 3,700 deals last year, a 10% decline in funding dollars and a 6% decline in the number Read More

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